Foreign and Military Affairs

China, Uruguay pledge closer legislative ties

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-01-05 09:56

BEIJING: China and Uruguay on Monday vowed to seek stronger legislative ties in an effort to bolster the overall bilateral relationship.

China, Uruguay pledge closer legislative ties
Wu Bangguo (1st R), chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), meets with Roque Arregui (1st L), president of Uruguayan House of Representatives, in Beijing, capital of China, January 4, 2010.[Xinhua]

The pledge came out of the meeting between top Chinese legislator Wu Bangguo and President of House of Representatives of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay Roque Arregui on Monday afternoon in Beijing.

"The long-standing legislative exchanges between China and Uruguay have played a positive role in enhancing the two nations' friendship and bilateral relations," said Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislature.

Wu called for both legislatures to continue multi-tier exchange and cooperation in various channels, learn from each other in governing the country and enhancing democracy and building of legal systems, increase consultation in multilateral legislative organizations in a bid to make new contribution to the overall China-Uruguay relationship.

Arregui, who was on his first visit to China, said the Uruguayan legislature would like to make use of its advantage to boost bilateral cooperation in politics, trade and other fields.

On broader bilateral relations, Wu said China and Uruguay had made headway in deepening political trust, boosting economic and trade relations and promoting scientific and cultural exchanges, among other things.

Wu said China appreciated Uruguay's staunch support on issues concerning China's core interests, including Taiwan issue and Tibet-related issues.

Stressing both nations' status as a developing country, Wu said it was in two nations' fundamental interest to deepen bilateral friendship.

"China would like to work with Uruguay to increase high-level exchanges, deepen trade ties and enrich people-to-people exchanges so as to usher in a new era of bilateral relations," Wu said.

Arregui praised China's efforts to deal with the global financial crisis and take a lead in reviving the economy, saying the endeavor benefited Uruguay and China's other trade partners and injected a huge momentum into the world economic recovery.

Arregui said Uruguay will continuously adhere to the one-China policy.

Earlier Monday, Uyunqimg, deputy chairperson of the NPC Standing Committee, also met with Arregui in Beijing.

The week-long visit will also take Arregui to east China's Zhejiang province and the country's financial hub of Shanghai.